This invention relates generally to computing systems and more particularly to a mechanism for providing intuitive scrolling feedback to a user.
One use of computer systems is to allow a user to interact with information displayed on a computer display screen. The user may interact with the displayed information using a keyboard, a pointing device such a a xe2x80x9cmousexe2x80x9d, or by touching portions or regions of the display itself (via a touch screen). Unfortunately, the use or manipulation of such displays can be confusing to users who have not had much experience with computer systems. Current display paradigms lack adequate intuitive cues to enable a novice or infrequent user to have a satisfactory computing experience. As a result, a user may become frustrated and/or unable to interact with the displayed information in a desired manner. Problems and disadvantages of interacting with displayed information can be understood by reviewing current approaches to the display and manipulation of information.
The means by which a computer user communicates with a computer is referred to as a xe2x80x9cuser interfacexe2x80x9d (UI). A UI typically comprises a computer display screen and one or more input devices (keyboard, mouse, or touch screen, for example), as well as the computer software that interprets input and provides images displayed on the computer display. Commonly, information is displayed in one or more rectangular display areas, often referred to as xe2x80x9cwindowsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cpanesxe2x80x9d.
Sometimes the information to be displayed to the user, for example, a list, a text document, or a graphical image, is too large to be shown in the display area in its entirety. When this occurs the display area can often be xe2x80x9cscrolledxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cpannedxe2x80x9d to a new position in the information such that the display area now shows portions of the information that the user was previously unable to see (and correspondingly, previously displayed portions may now no longer be displayed). The term scrolling is used herein to refer to both scrolling and panning. A problem with existing scrolling mechanisms is that users unfamiliar with computer systems may have trouble understanding how to operate them.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a prior art window with scroll bars. Window 100 shown in FIG. 1, is an interface for a word processing program. Window 100 features a vertical scroll bar 120 and a horizontal scroll bar 130. These scroll bars 120, 130 allow the user to scroll the portion of a document displayed in a display area 110 up and down, and right to left, respectively.
The user may cause the information in the display area 110 to be scrolled in several ways. For example, the user can scroll the information in the display area 110 up by activating the up arrow 121. Activating the down arrow 122 scrolls the information in the display area 110 down. If the user clicks on the double down arrow 124, the end or the bottom of the document is displayed. If the user clicks on the double up arrow 125, the top or the beginning of the document is displayed in the display area 110. The double arrows 124, 125 provide convenient mechanisms for quickly jumping to the beginning or the end of a document.
The user can also drag the square box 123 up or down. This box 123 is sometimes referred to as an xe2x80x9celevatorxe2x80x9d or a xe2x80x9cthumbxe2x80x9d. When the user moves the square box 123, the contents of the display area 110 are scrolled, and the page number corresponding to the portion of the document that is currently displayed in the display area 110 is shown at the bottom left of the display area 110. Whether the contents of the display area 110 are moved up or down depends upon the direction in which the thumb 123 is moved. The horizontal thumb 133 may be operated in a similar fashion. By dragging the thumb 133 left or right, the contents of the display area 110 are moved left or right.
In addition, the user may cause information in the display area 110 to be moved by clicking within the scroll area above or below the thumb 123, or by clicking within the scroll area to the right or left of the thumb 133. If the user clicks above the thumb 123, the document is scrolled up by a certain increment. If the user clicks below the thumb 123, the document is scrolled own by a certain increment. Likewise, if the user clicks to the left of the thumb 133, the document is scrolled left by a certain increment. If the user clicks to the right of the thumb 133, the document is scrolled right by a certain increment.
As the above discussion shows, operation of the prior art scrolling mechanism can be relatively complex and non-intuitive. For users who are unfamiliar with operating computer systems, it may present a barrier to effective inter action between a user and a system. This in turn may lead to lost sales and/or business.
To overcome the shortcomings of the prior art, the present invention provides a more intuitive scrolling feedback mechanism which enables even novice and infrequent users to quickly understand and to utilize the scrolling functionality. In accordance with one embodiment, the present invention provides scrolling feedback to a user by displaying a portion of a set of information in a display area. In addition, a control region is displayed, comprising one or more activable controls. These controls, when activated by a user via a user interface, cause a different portion of the set of information to be displayed in the display area. In one embodiment, the activable controls comprise a forward scrolling control for scrolling forward in the set of information, and a backward scrolling control for scrolling backward in the set of information. In addition, a status region is displayed, comprising a plurality of location indicators. A subset of the location indicators is displayed in a first manner, while the remainder of the location indicators is displayed in a second and different manner. The subset of the indicators is determined based upon the portion of the set of information that is currently being displayed in the display region. In effect, the location indicators provide the user with an indication as to where the currently displayed portion is relative to the entire set of information.
In one embodiment, the location indicators take the form of visual indicators displayable in one of two colors: (1) a light color; and (2) a darker color to provide an impression that the indicator has been xe2x80x9cfilled inxe2x80x9d. When the beginning of a set of information is displayed in the display area, all of the location indicators are displayed in the light color to indicate that the user is currently viewing the beginning of the set of information. As the user invokes the forward scrolling control in the control region, the information displayed in the display area is scrolled forward, and a subset of the location indicators begins to be displayed with the darker color. The size of the subset depends upon how far into the set of information the user has scrolled. For example, if the user has scrolled to the middle of the set of information, then approximately half of the location indicators will be displayed in the darker color, with the remainder of the location indicators being displayed in the lighter color. When scrolling reaches the end of the set of information, all of the location indicators are displayed in the darker color to indicate that the user has reached the end of the set of information. The user may also invoke the backward scrolling control in the control region to scroll backward in the set of information. As the user scrolls backward, the subset of darker color location indicators decreases while the number of light color indicators increases. When the user reaches the beginning of the set of information, all of the location indicators are displayed in the light color.
In the manner described, the present invention provides a highly intuitive mechanism for providing scrolling feedback to a user. As the user scrolls forward in the set of information, more location indicators are xe2x80x9cfilled inxe2x80x9d. As the user scrolls backward, location indicators are xe2x80x9cunfilledxe2x80x9d. At any time, the user can get a sense of how far into the set of information he has scrolled by simply viewing the status region. With this intuitive and easy to understand feedback mechanism, even novice and infrequent computer users can quickly and easily take advantage of the scrolling functionality offered by the present invention.